Comments on: The Independent MP for Thunder Bay-Superior Northhttp://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/the-independent-mp-for-thunder-bay-superior-north/
Canada's national weekly current affairs magazineTue, 03 Mar 2015 17:15:13 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.2By: Christopher Porterhttp://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/the-independent-mp-for-thunder-bay-superior-north/#comment-946453
Christopher PorterTue, 24 Apr 2012 17:37:00 +0000http://www2.macleans.ca/?p=254491#comment-946453He’s not wrong, I think everyone wants to see more independent, free-thinking MPs. However, people vote largely for a party, its platform, and the promises made by the leader. If there isn’t any party discipline, then there’s no guarantee that any of those promises will come to fruition.

The electorate desires free-thinking politicians, but they also want certainty and concrete policy laid out during an election. There is a bit of a dichotomy there.

One need only look at the Alberta election, where a bunch of free-thinking Wild Rose candidates undermined the leader’s message and harmed the parties chances province-wide.

It’s a tricky balance for any party. You need to show a unified front, but also give MPs some freedom to represent their constituents.

]]>By: Thwimhttp://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/the-independent-mp-for-thunder-bay-superior-north/#comment-946451
ThwimTue, 24 Apr 2012 16:01:00 +0000http://www2.macleans.ca/?p=254491#comment-946451Strongly agree with Hyer’s comment about party leader vs riding association candidate approval. This actually strikes me as one of those “stealth reforms” people might be able to get MPs to go for — making them more accountable to the riding than the leader.

Of course, there’s probably some issues with how parties establish riding associations giving power right back to the party executive, but that one level of remove might be enough to start the ball rolling.